Last week, a fan site released un-retouched photos of Beyoncé that committed the heinous crime of letting us know she’s human. It’s unfortunate enough that as a musician her appearance warrants to much scrutiny (we don’t remember au naturale pictures of Jay-Z ever unleashing so much controversy), but what’s sadder is the weird, beauty-normative ways viewers responded: Many fans claimed the photos weren’t real and that blemishes ... Read More

An un-retouched photo of Cindy Crawford was leaked today from Marie Claire Mexico, and all we can say is, “Damn girl!” The 48-year-old-mother-of-two looks fierce and fabulous in just lingerie and a fur coat, caught mid-swagger like the bombshell she’s always been.
As a culture obsessed with fixing flaws and stopping the hands of time, our standards of beauty are crafted by the celebrities and models we worship—most of whom are either ... Read More

I’ve always thought that once I get my hands on a time machine, one of my initial trips will be to 1979 to see if my mom would think I was cool enough to hang with her in Des Moines. “If I Had Known My Mother Back Then” is a more accessible experiment in the same vein.
For her latest project, artist Danielle Delph edited herself into photos of her mother as a child and teenager. The result is touching and the pieces are seamless: it is not even ... Read More

In a world of Photoshop mania, beauty products galore and an onslaught of sexualized celebrity images, it is very difficult to look at one’s self and feel 100% confident. We, the regular folks, have bodies riddled with scars, stretch marks and other such "flaws." Our culture constantly informs us we aren’t supposed to have them, that our scars are gross despite the struggles they represent, and our stretch marks are proof we are fat rather than human ... Read More

Radio journalist Esther Honig sent her picture to Photoshop experts in 27 different countries for a project she calls Before & After. Keeping the fact that beauty standards are illuminated by Photoshop here in the U.S., she wanted to “examine how these standards vary across cultures on a global level.”
The results (down below) are fascinating. While the results are largely based on the perception of the person doing the Photoshop, that perception ... Read More

Sadly, Photoshop exaggeration is old news. “Nobody really looks like that”, you remind yourself every time a commercial flashes an image of an airbrushed-to-“perfection” model. Although, do we as individuals really have any power to change the marketing industry standard?
One father says “yes." Seth Matlins, a former chief marketing officer, has seen his fair share of computer-altered waistlines and falsely whitened skin. ... Read More

When Brooke Birmingham, the blogger behind Brooke: Not On A Diet, was approached by Shape magazine to be part of what they referred to as a weight loss “success story," she saw it as an opportunity to “reach people.” Birmingham, who recently lost 172 pounds, has committed herself to spreading positivity and encouraging diverse women to embrace and love their bodies; in accordance with her convictions, Birmingham proudly wore a bikini while modeling for the ... Read More

The pin-up girl occupies a unique space in feminist history; influenced in no small part by aesthetics of Burlesque, the cheesecake images have been labeled everything from “subversive” to “wholesome.” In some ways, the pin-up was the first mass-produced female icon celebrated for her sexuality, taking the place of the more demure, pious upper-middle class ideal of Victorian womanhood.
But the pin-up, like all commercial images ... Read More

Warning: This post may not be safe for work.
The artist’s Maria Raquel Cochez’s impressive body of work is powerfully autobiographical, cataloging her painful struggle with eating disorders, weight loss surgery, and recovery. In her recent photographs, she claims the human right to accept and love her body, promoting body acceptance for all women in the process.
For her “CKMe” and “Another Mermaid” project, she inserts ... Read More

Lorde learned a lesson last year after criticizing some of her fellow pop stars Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez for having “unfeminist lyrics” or for being too “unobtainable and flawless.” It's safe to say that Lorde wasn’t trying to be catty or harsh, and seems more like the kind of girl who was more interested in holding people accountable and reminding us that celebrities aren’t perfect. We know she has definitely changed her ... Read More